Video Cassette Recorders (VCRs) are commonly used by the public to record television programs. In the past, users recorded television programs by manually pressing the RECORD button on the VCR, or programming an event timer in the VCR to activate at a specified time and record a specified television channel for a predetermined time period. Programming the event timer depended upon the VCR's capability to receive the transmitted television signal, maintain an accurate clock, and record the desired program. With the advent of digital television, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television systems and the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG), the capability to select and control the recording of a television program through a digital television receiver has greatly expanded. An EPG is usually broadcast via satellite or cable television systems and is stored in the television receiver. The EPG contains information corresponding to channel and timeslot, and is usually updated at regular intervals to reflect last minute programming changes or add new timeslots. An EPG may also incorporate numerical codes corresponding to individual programming selections to simplify the recording process, and known as "VCR Plus". However, as currently configured to record a satellite or digital television program, both the television receiver and the VCR must be programmed as to time and desired channel.
In some systems, the infrared (IR) codes for VCRs can only be stored in the memory of the digital satellite receiver (DSR) or digital television receiver at the time of manufacture. Thus, it is not possible to update the codes when a new model VCR is introduced. As the evolution of VCRs is rapid and new models are constantly reaching the market, the programming of IR codes in the receiver at the time of manufacture is not a commercially viable option.
An EPG requires constant updates and additions to be accurate and effective. In satellite television and cable television systems, EPG data is constantly transmitted to the subscriber to maintain an accurate and up to date EPG. Similar techniques could be employed to provide an up to date list of hardware specific IR codes for wider selection of VCRs available to the public.
There is a great need for a television receiver that can receive IR codes from a remote programming source via a data stream, and use these IR codes to control a VCR in real time to automatically record programs selected from an EPG. Similarly, it would be of great benefit if the control of a VCR could be effectuated without an IR generator peripheral to the television receiver which must be in the line of sight of a VCR to actuate it.